Tylototriton (Yaotriton) notialis, new species from Laos

As I have grown fond of saying - another new herp species of interest to enthusiasts was described tomorrow:

The first crocodile salamander formally recognized from Laos is described as a new species of the T.asperrimus group (subgenus Yaotriton), from the Phou Ak escarpment. This is the southernmost member of the genus to date, being 400km south of the type locality of T.vietnamensis. The species is distinct in geography, morphology, and both nDNA and mtDNA. The genus has long been suspected in northern Laos, but not yet confirmed there.

Abstract:
http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2010/f/z02650p032f.pdf

Image (manually coded, hope it works the first time):

Very exciting! Has this species been exported before (I hope not). Hopefully this won't be another Laotriton with people travelling to the type locality to collect them all...although it looks similar enough to other species to perhaps avoid that...

It is nice to see a description of an Asian salamander that includes both morphological and genetic studies!

Thanks very much for posting this

Chris

Asia still has lots of surprises to give us!!

Thank you for posting this. I look forward to reading the paper.
Chip

this is as well the first genetic proof, that shanjing and verrucosus are different species

The full paper is now available from the author's personal website:
Bryan L. Stuart

Among the interesting and useful information:
The species probably occurs in southern Vietnam as well. Its only known location in Laos is in a significant national park, though it likely occurs elsewhere.
Characteristics to distinguish all members of Yaotriton are provided.
Cao Bang, Vietnam animals are identified as a distinct species from Bac Giang T.vietnamensis.
T.verrucosus is clarified as distinct from T.shanjing, and the fault of previous studies using only a single unvouchered specimen of the former, from near a contact zone, is pointed out.
T.verrucosus may consist of multiple species, based on differentiation among sample populations. That's not a surprise, given behavioral, habitat, and morphological differentiation, although I expected only a single variable species from Myanmar west. [there's no evidence of the species existing east of Myanmar].

DGHT Salamandr now offers free access to published papers online. This includes the descriptions of Tylototriton vietnamensis:
Downloads | Issues 2005
and Salamandra salamandra alfredschmidti
Downloads | Issues 2006

Wow those are amazing! Wish i had one. Oh well maybe some day.

Recent mitochondrial DNA data indicate T.notialis is very closely related to T.asperrimus, and the authors of that paper have combined most "undescribed species" plus T.notialis and T.hainanensis into a single species [details posted in other threads]. However, additional and even MORE recent data which are more detailed and which appear very reliable, show that this group probably contains a number of distinct species, including T.hainanensis. Since T.notialis was not included in the latter study, as was closely related to true T.asperrimus in the first, the jury is out as to its true status. One critical point is that the species description of this thread did not compare T.notialis to T.asperrimus from its type locality, and it turns out that the locality used wasn't "typical" T.asperrimus. That makes the comparisons on which the species was based, unreliable. In addition, Topotypic T.asperrimus have been found to frequently have some of the color traits which were considered unique to T.notialis.

Great news and big surprise!!